Palm Beach County approves new deal to sell Mecca Farms

Water storage, shooting range planned

May 22, 2013|By Andy Reid, Sun Sentinel

Finally giving up on developing taxpayer-owned Mecca Farms, Palm Beach County commissioners Tuesday approved pursuing a $26 million deal to sell the former citrus groves to the state for water storage as well as a public shooting range.

The price of the proposed deal for the 1,919 acres west of Palm Beach Gardens falls well short of recovering more than $100 million the county invested since 2004 in a failed effort to create a biotech industry hub anchored by The Scripps Research Institute on Mecca Farms.

"It is time to get this monkey off our backs," said County Commissioner Mary Lou Berger, who along with the other current commissioners wasn't on the board when the county bought Mecca Farms.

Environmental concerns about an influx of development on farmland surrounded by wetlands led to a legal fight that in 2006 killed plans to put Scripps on Mecca Farms.

Now environmental groups are backing the move to sell Mecca Farms to the South Florida Water Management District to store water that would be used to replenish the Loxahatchee River.

The deal also calls for the district to provide 150 acres of Mecca Farms for a gun range that would be paid for and operated by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. County plans for a gun range have been on hold for years due to budget cuts.

While the county hoped to recover more of the cost for Mecca Farms, the deal does chip away at remaining debts from Mecca Farms while also delivering a long-delayed recreation attraction, County Administrator Robert Weisman said.

"Mecca has been incredibly costly," Weisman said. "Appraisals do not justify a higher price than we are getting today. … There's a lot of good that can come from this."

Building the shooting range next to the J.W. Corbett Wildlife Management Area is expected to cost the state about $5.1 million getting it built, with user fees covering operating costs. The proposal calls for an initial phase to open to the public in 2015. Trap and skeet shooting, pistol and rifle ranges as well as clubhouse, pro shop and spectator stands are envisioned, with the hopes of attracting national shooting events.

Putting a shooting range on Mecca Farms opens the door to a proposal for the county to create an ATV park for off-road vehicles on land in Loxahatchee once intended for a public gun range.

County commissioners approved moving ahead with a feasibility study about creating an off-roading ATV course on nearly 100 acres of county-owned property south of Southern Boulevard near 20 Mile Bend.

The chance for creating an ATV park and shooting range along with using Mecca Farms for environmental restoration on Tuesday created a unique coalition of public support that included the Sierra Club, Audubon of Florida, hunting groups and the National Rifle Association.

The county in 2004 paid $60 million for Mecca Farms, with the hopes of creating a Florida home for California-based Scripps and luring a job-producing, biotech industry.

The county spent another $40 million for planning, permitting and initial construction for Scripps and an additional $51 million for water pipeline to supply Mecca Farms and the expected spin-off development.

But in 2006 the environmental fight moved Scripps to Florida Atlantic University's Jupiter campus. And the crash of the South Florida housing boom squashed the county's backup plan to sell Mecca Farms to developers.

A new state Everglades restoration plan created a new potential taker for Mecca Farms.

"I thought I would never see this day," said Joanne Davis, of the environmental group 1000 Friends of Florida.

County commissioners last year thought they could get at least a $55 million deal with the water management district for Mecca Farms, but appraisals for the land sunk the deal to the $26 million maximum that the water district board last month agreed to offer.

Now the district and county have to finalize the contract, with the district also needing to work out the details of setting aside the land for the shooting range. It's expected to go back before the County Commission for final approval by September.

"I wish that this had occurred in 2006," County Commissioner Jess Santamaria said.